the Second Tuesday of Advent
Scripture Reading for Today:
Isaiah 19:18-25
18 On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts. One of these will be called the City of the Sun. 19 On that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the center of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border. 20 It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; when they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a savior, and will defend and deliver them. 21 The Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians; and the Egyptians will know the Lord on that day, and will worship with sacrifice and burnt offering, and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them. 22 The Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing; they will return to the Lord, and he will listen to their supplications and heal them. 23 On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. 24 On that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my heritage.”
Psalm 126
A song of ascents.1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. 2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” 3 The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoiced. 4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the watercourses in the Negeb. 5 May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. 6 Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.
2 Peter 1:2-15
2 May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature. 5 For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. 8 For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For anyone who lacks these things is short-sighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins. 10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble. 11 For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you. 12 Therefore I intend to keep on reminding you of these things, though you know them already and are established in the truth that has come to you. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to refresh your memory, 14 since I know that my death will come soon, as indeed our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.
NRSV
The Tension of Time
Beth Anne Fisher supports ministry leaders and students through her work at Emmanuel College (U of T) and with New Leaf Network. She is also a PhD candidate at Emmanuel College. You can follow Beth on Instagram @beth.anne.f.
For most (all?) of us, the past year and a half has shifted our understanding and experiences of time. I can no longer remember whether the pandemic started in 2020 or 2019. If you ask me when I last went to a sports game or a concert, it simultaneously feels like six months and six years ago. What are my plans for a month from now? I don’t know if I should make any plans, since they may not be possible.
Along with how our perception of time has been disrupted, many of our notions of progress, growth, and improvement have also been challenged. Our expectations for how much change should happen in two years--the plans we had for where we would be by 2022--likely don’t line up with where we find ourselves as 2021 draws to a close.
When I read the psalm from today’s lectionary, I feel a now familiar sense of temporal uncertainty and mixed-up timelines. Psalm 126 begins with a celebration of God’s freeing power in the lives of the Israelites, and an expression of gratitude for what God has already done. But then the last three verses seem to be asking for the very thing that is celebrated in the first three verses. So which is it? Has restoration already happened? Are the Israelites still waiting for rescue? Is it both?
In my own life, and in the world around me, it’s always both. I see redemption and restoration, and yet I am in need of more. On any given day, as I navigate my particular story of growth and grief and receiving and losing, I may find myself with laughter on my lips, or I might feel solidarity with those who are sowing in tears.
In these dusky days of late fall, Psalm 126 provides me with a sense of solace. When timelines are disrupted so that we do not know how long or how short a year might be, when we wait and wonder when our fortunes* may be restored, when we can remember the good that God has done and yet so acutely feel our need of God’s intervention--we are not alone.
Across time, across history, we wait with the whole communion of saints. We do not wait alone, even in the darkest nights.
Whether time feels fast or short for you right now, whether you are celebrating God’s restoration or pleading for sorrow to turn to joy, may this Advent season be a space where the tension of time and our ideas of linear progression are laid to rest. May we find solidarity in the relationships that surround us, connection to those who have gone before us, hope in the stories of God’s faithful work in the world around us, and love undergirding it all.
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